New norms needed for city, says state

MUMBAI: With the Rajiv Awaas Yojana (RAY), the Union government’s flagship scheme for ‘slum-free India’ by 2022, proving to be a non-starter in Mumbai, the state government now plans to ask the Centre to concede to a separate set of norms for the city.

This would include reducing the cut-off year for eligibility, demand for increasing the Centre’s contribution, addressing the issue of land paucity and slum density in Mumbai. Minister of state for housing Sachin Ahir said with a court-mandated freeze on extending the cut-off date for free housing to slum dwellers in the city, Mumbai cannot follow RAY’s guideline of granting ‘inheritable lease rights’ to all those who have been residing in slums for over five years. “We have proposed that while all slum dwellers before the legal cut-off date of 1995 can get free land and subsidised housing as per the Centre’s norms, those between 1995 and 2000 will have to shell out a specific amount,” said Ahir.

He added that the anyone who has been living in slums after 2000 will be rendered ineligible for formal housing, unlike other cities where RAY is implemented as an all-inclusive policy.

With an allocation of Rs 32,230 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan, RAY aims at rebuilding slum settlements, providing them with social and physical infrastructure and easy access to institutional credit. While public land is made available free of cost, RAY requires the beneficiary to bear 25 per cent of the construction cost, with the state and Centre chipping in 25 and 50 per cent. A similar pattern of funding is followed for infrastructure provision with the exception that the beneficiary’s 25-per cent share is borne by the urban local body.

“As per our estimates, the state government will have to shell out as much as Rs 10,000 crore if it has to provide its share,” said Ahir.

Housing department officials said paucity of land in Mumbai in comparison to its high slum density also poses a problem. According to Mumbai Human Development Index, about 56 per cent of the city’s population lives in slums concentrated on six per cent of its geographical area. “We have asked the Centre to make available vast stretches of salt pan lands for not only rehabilitating slum settlements but also for creation of affordable housing,” said the official.

Latest Realty News

MUMBAI: The palatial 15,000 sq ft duplexes in the under-construction 55-storey Sasen building on tony Napean Sea Road offers the country’s costliest residences at Rs 100-120 crore each. But for six years now, the project, earlier known as Lotus Villa, has not sold a single unit.

MUMBAI: Oberoi Realty surged over 6% to Rs 212.50 after the company announced yesterday that the Supreme Court dismissed a lower court judgement that had declared as private forest certain properties that a unit of the real estate developer wanted to develop.

MUMBAI: IIFL Wealth Management, a unit of financial services firm India Infoline, said on Wednesday it has raised a Rs 750-crore real estate fund, which has the option to co-invest another Rs 500 crore under the fund. IIFL has mandated Ajay Piramal group's realty fund manager Indiareit Fund Advisors as the investment advisor.

MUMBAI: Indiabulls Real Estate tumbled 4.97% to Rs 53.55 at 15:10 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit fell 45.73% to Rs 28.36 crore on 31.66% increase in total income to Rs 462.56 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

PUNE: The real estate market is gradually maturing in India and therefore, it elegantly overcomes all the challenges. After the economic slowdown and a series of setbacks, the realty market has been bifurcated into two parts i.e. the realty market from the perspective of investors, and from the standpoint of end-users. Experts believe that the current realty market of Mumbai and Pune, are to remain subdued from the investors’ point of view but if you are an end-user, then this can be a good chan

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra state government hiked the Ready Reckoner valuations of immovable properties in Mumbai, substantially for 2014, though property prices have not grown as much. How does this affect the common house purchaser or house seller?